Marriage and Educational Attainment: A Dynamic Approach to First Union Formation

The article looks at the relationship between partnership formation
and women’s education in the Czech Republic. Education can serve as a proxy
for cultural capital and earning potential. Therefore, it is expected to play a significant role in partnership formation. Analyses of data from the Family and
Fertility Survey show that the level of education has an impact on the timing of
the first union. However, when school enrolment is controlled, education does
not play a significant role in the tendency to enter into marriage or cohabitation.
It is not possible to demonstrate that the accumulation of human capital itself
has an impact on union formation in the Czech Republic. Nor do data confirm
the expectation that the influence of education should increase after the collapse
of communism and the introduction of the market economy.